3 weeks ago
4
Rick Turner, head coach of Jamaica men’s basketball team, said he is excited for Jamaica to be able to host world-class games at the National Arena in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Qualifiers.
Jamaica will compete in the World Cup Qualifiers for the first time in the nation’s history and are drawn in Pool B, alongside Canada, Puerto Rico and The Bahamas.
The qualifiers will be played in a round-robin format, with Jamaica playing each team twice, once at home and once away.
The top three teams from the pool will advance to the second round, where they will compete for a spot at the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The JamRockerz will play their home games at the National Arena, with Turner stating it is a major achievement for the country.
Turner said this was one of his aspirations when he took on the head coach role in 2019 to help raise the profile of basketball among Jamaican sports fans.
He believes the opportunity to see world-class basketball on Jamaican soil will be a new wave of excitement for the sport.
“Jamaica deserves this,” he said.
“I think that part of the motivation, at least for me personally, of wanting to bring basketball to prominence in the country is exactly for this opportunity to play meaningful games in front of Jamaican fans, who deserve to see high-level basketball played on their soil.”
He continued, “I think it’s an opportunity to be very, very exciting. I think it will be something that acts as a jump-start to basketball in the country. We’re able to have some skin in the game and to see these players live and to see the talent level and skill level that they bring.”
However, Jamaica will only play two of their three homes at the National Arena, because of venue unavailability.
Instead, the JamRockerz will kick-start their campaign with back-to-back away games against Puerto Rico in San Juan on November 28 and December 1.
The first game at the National Arena will see Jamaica take on Bahamas on February 26, before the final home game against Canada on March 1.
Something ‘sustainable’
Turner said these games could also lead to Jamaica becoming a mainstay among the top teams in the region, as the Jamaica Basketball Association (JaBA) continues its work to build a sustainable and competitive national programme.
“A part of it is that you don’t rest on your laurels,” he said. “I mean, we’ve worked really hard for this.
“The team was essentially dormant since 2013, so it’s been a long time. We have a lot of ground to make up and we think it can be something that’s sustainable. So in no way can we become complacent.”
Turner said his goal is that, decades down the line, they can view these qualifiers as the launching point of Jamaica’s basketball ‘renaissance’.
“We’ve accomplished something but there’s so much work ahead,” he explained.
“We’re trying to build something that would be lasting and something that, you know, 20, 30, or 40 years from now, people can look back on and not only be proud of what we’ve done, but know that this was the beginning of the renaissance for Jamaica basketball.”
English (US) ·